Tourism revenue and visitor numbers from North America and Europe rose in the first quarter of the year despite the foot-and-mouth crisis, new figures from the Central Statistics Office reveal.
The overall number of overseas visitors was down, however, by 2.4 per cent on the same period last year due to a fall-off in business from Ireland's biggest market, Britain.
Between January and March, there were an estimated 632,000 British visitors, a drop of 7.5 per cent, on the first quarter of 2000.
In contrast, the number of visitors from continental Europe rose by 8 per cent to 203,000, and from North America by 3.2 per cent to 160,000.
These gains contributed to a 6 per cent boost in tourism revenue with an estimated £463 million earned in the first three months of 2001.
While the figures were to be welcomed, said Bord Failte spokesman Mr John Browne, "they should be seen in the context of annual foreign exchange earnings of about £3 billion a year. When the figures for the second quarter come out I think we will see the full impact of the foot-and-mouth crisis."
A survey conducted by Bord Failte, and published in the latest edition of its magazine Link, supports the State agency's prediction of a 14 per cent drop in visitor numbers for the year.
Two-thirds of hoteliers surveyed reported a drop in business from Britain in the first five months of the year and more than half indicated losses from North America.
Three-quarters of guest house and B&B proprietors said overseas business was down with less than one in ten reporting gains. Losses were also reported by 90 per cent of angling providers and equestrian operators and 60 per cent of golf course managers.
Bord Failte was earlier this year allocated an extra £7 million by the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation for a "re-assurance campaign" to counteract negative publicity from the foot-and-mouth crisis.
The CSO figures, published yesterday, also show the number of Irish people travelling abroad in the first quarter of 2001 rose by 5.9 per cent to 766,000.
